Weather Records on 20 December 1948

345 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 December 1948. Highest significance: Setauket Strong, US.

Key Facts for 20 December 1948

On 20 December 1948, 345 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
39 were record highs and 46 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 2 were all-time records, 10 monthly and 333 daily.
Setauket Strong set a daily record snowfall of 33.0 cm (13.0 in) on 20 December 1948.
Across 163 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 468 records.

Record Map

345 stations

345 station records on 20 December 1948 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 December 1948: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Setauket Strong	United States	Record daily snowfall	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Girona (Antic Institut)	Spain	Record daily precipitation	110.3 mm (4.3 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Monkira	Australia	Record daily precipitation	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Paterson	United States	Record daily snowfall	44.5 cm (17.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Moorestown 4 E	United States	Record daily snowfall	21.3 cm (8.4 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Prince Rupert	Canada	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Maclear (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Three Rivers	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Laverton	Australia	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Bullfinch	Australia	Record daily precipitation	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Pierce Rs	United States	Record snow depth	129.5 cm (51.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
New Brunswick Exp STN	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.6 cm (8.9 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Hartington	United States	Record snow depth	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Elandspoort	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Kellogg	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
World Trade Ctr	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Georgetown Post Office	Australia	Record low minimum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Bathurst Gaol	Australia	Record low minimum temperature	3.3 C (37.9 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Acude Bonito	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	55.5 mm (2.2 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Teresina	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	45.4 mm (1.8 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Caetite	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	72.5 mm (2.9 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Kamloops	Canada	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Goudveld (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Arrowrock Dam	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Lake Cle Elum	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.4 mm (2.1 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Te Kowai Exp STN	Australia	Record daily precipitation	72.9 mm (2.9 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Bourke Post Office	Australia	Record low minimum temperature	13.3 C (55.9 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Trout Creek 2 W	United States	Record snow depth	73.7 cm (29.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Lebanon 3 W	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Hogsback (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.2 mm (1.2 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Wallal Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Sable Island	Canada	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Tomsk	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-45.7 C (-50.3 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
New Brunswick Exp STN	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Vanur	India	Record daily precipitation	54.4 mm (2.1 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Bodallin	Australia	Record daily precipitation	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Raglan	Australia	Record daily precipitation	69.9 mm (2.8 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Jequie	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	40.3 mm (1.6 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Santa Barbara	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-1.1 C (30.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Pierce Rs	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Pine Rvr Dam	United States	Record daily snowfall	9.1 cm (3.6 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Athabasca	Canada	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Emerson	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	-6.7 C (19.9 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Kislovodsk	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-18.0 C (-0.4 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Millwood (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Lottering (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Witelsbos (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Izeleni (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Healdsburg	United States	Record low maximum temperature	5.6 C (42.1 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Wallace	United States	Record snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Forman 5 SSE	United States	Record high maximum temperature	7.2 C (45.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Park Rapids Muni AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Myroodah	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Brejo Santo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	78.5 mm (3.1 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Prince	Canada	Record daily snowfall	8.9 cm (3.5 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Petropavlovsk	Kazakhstan	Record low minimum temperature	-41.9 C (-43.4 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Buffelsnek (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	53.6 mm (2.1 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Hopewell	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Tambellup	Australia	Record daily precipitation	19.3 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Daveyhurst Mulwarrie	Australia	Record daily precipitation	24.1 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

345 records

Records set or tied on 20 December 1948 by type: Highest daily maximum 23, Lowest daily maximum 13, Highest daily minimum 16, Lowest daily minimum 33, Heaviest daily rainfall 185, Heaviest daily snowfall 51, Deepest snow cover 24.

Records on 20 December 1948 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	23
Lowest daily maximum	13
Highest daily minimum	16
Lowest daily minimum	33
Heaviest daily rainfall	185
Heaviest daily snowfall	51
Deepest snow cover	24

Records on 20 December 1948 by timescale: all-time 2, monthly 10, daily 333.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

288 broken records

Margins by which the 288 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 533.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 December 1948

Top 20 records on 20 December 1948 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 December 1948	Setauket Strong, US	daily snowfall	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	55 years	62 of 100 (Major)
20 December 1948	Girona (Antic Institut), ES	daily rain	110.3 mm (4.3 in)	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	50 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Monkira, AU	daily rain	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	49.6 mm (2.0 in)	34 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Paterson, US	daily snowfall	44.5 cm (17.5 in)	39.4 cm (15.5 in)	2 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Moorestown 4 E, US	daily snowfall	21.3 cm (8.4 in)	9.9 cm (3.9 in)	55 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Prince Rupert, CA	daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	31 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Maclear (Mag), ZA	daily rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	41 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Three Rivers, AU	daily rain	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	33.6 mm (1.3 in)	39 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Laverton, AU	daily rain	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	22.1 mm (0.9 in)	29 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Bullfinch, AU	monthly rain	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	16.1 mm (0.6 in)	11 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Pierce Rs, US	daily snow depth	129.5 cm (51.0 in)	53.3 cm (21.0 in)	32 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	New Brunswick Exp STN, US	daily snowfall	22.6 cm (8.9 in)	19.0 cm (7.5 in)	2 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1948	Hartington, US	daily snow depth	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	54 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1948	Elandspoort, ZA	daily rain	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	23.2 mm (0.9 in)	32 years	31 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1948	Kellogg, US	daily snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	17.7 cm (7.0 in)	43 years	31 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1948	World Trade Ctr, US	daily snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	44 years	31 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1948	Georgetown Post Office, AU	daily low min	14.4 C (57.9 F)	2.4 C (4.3 F)	48 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1948	Bathurst Gaol, AU	daily low min	3.3 C (37.9 F)	1.0 C (1.8 F)	57 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1948	Acude Bonito, BR	daily rain	55.5 mm (2.2 in)	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	14 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1948	Teresina, BR	daily rain	45.4 mm (1.8 in)	26.6 mm (1.0 in)	33 years	28 of 100 (Routine)

Significance is a score from 0 to 100 combining margin, the age of the old record and the length of the station's record. How it is computed.

The Same Date in Other Years

1793 to 1948

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1948. 1948 had 345 records.

Counts for years before the ledger starts come from the same station rules.

Records on 12-20 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1795	1
1804	1
1805	2
1808	1
1815	1
1828	1
1837	1
1846	1
1855	8
1858	1
1860	1
1866	1
1867	1
1868	1
1869	1
1871	2
1874	3
1875	1
1877	2
1878	1
1879	1
1880	1
1881	1
1882	1
1884	4
1885	1
1886	4
1889	4
1890	2
1891	2
1892	1
1894	2
1895	8
1896	1
1897	4
1898	2
1899	1
1900	7
1901	8
1902	14
1903	17
1904	9
1905	5
1906	5
1907	11
1908	5
1909	22
1910	17
1911	24
1912	27
1913	7
1914	43
1915	18
1916	45
1917	33
1918	18
1919	25
1920	22
1921	101
1922	88
1923	215
1924	332
1925	96
1926	163
1927	200
1928	93
1929	256
1930	67
1931	536
1932	170
1933	492
1934	265
1935	152
1936	416
1937	181
1938	240
1939	308
1940	965
1941	633
1942	817
1943	193
1944	340
1945	430
1946	327
1947	385
1948	345
1949	1,141
1950	758
1951	926
1952	394
1953	385
1954	416
1955	726
1956	471
1957	1,354
1958	382
1959	142
1960	354
1961	369
1962	475
1963	875
1964	499
1965	353
1966	555
1967	1,370
1968	482
1969	514
1970	518
1971	441
1972	448
1973	1,184
1974	328
1975	610
1976	382
1977	484
1978	910
1979	600
1980	667
1981	1,681
1982	712
1983	2,995
1984	1,411
1985	1,035
1986	321
1987	1,179
1988	760
1989	1,812
1990	1,885
1991	1,172
1992	1,134
1993	1,266
1994	813
1995	1,128
1996	1,448
1997	651
1998	1,110
1999	938
2000	1,150
2001	523
2002	943
2003	1,315
2004	836
2005	515
2006	1,387
2007	986
2008	1,356
2009	1,502
2010	2,055
2011	846
2012	1,131
2013	584
2014	524
2015	1,238
2016	603
2017	688
2018	592
2019	731
2020	554
2021	442
2022	567
2023	1,242
2024	897
2025	1,166

Download the Data

Data for records on 1948-12-20: CSV or JSON. Field meanings are on the data page.

Sources: Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Climatology Network Daily (GHCN-Daily). Records are computed by World Extreme Weather Monitor and are not official NOAA products. (US Government open data (NOAA NCEI)) Made with Natural Earth. Public domain map data. Borders are Natural Earth's de facto depiction. Data as of 2026-10-17 (17 October 2026). Records are computed by this site and are not official.

Data as of 2026-10-15. Last revised 15 October 2026 (2026-10-15).

Margin	Records
0 to 100	273
100 to 200	10
200 to 300	3
300 to 400	1
400 to 500	0
500 to 600	1